


Powerful Love

by bunnymarket



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Domestic Spencer, F/M, Fluff, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:40:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26152036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnymarket/pseuds/bunnymarket
Summary: A late night conversation with Spencer Reid.I got a headache, but I’m glad that I stayed up late. I think I love you from all the way across the state.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character, Spencer Reid/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 93





	Powerful Love

I was never a fearful child growing up. Spiders, heights, clowns, none of it phased me. There wasn’t a thing on this Earth that could scare me, and I didn’t think there ever would be. 

But then I fell in love. 

When the person you love is states away, hunting down a psychotic killer who will slit someone’s throat without a second thought, you properly learn what fear is. Every day there’s a possibility that the one I love will never come home again. 

I’ve been threatened, of course. I’ve been stalked, I’ve been harassed, but none of it mattered to me. None of it instilled the same fear in my heart as the thought of getting that phone call that would change everything. 

The only thing that terrified me was losing Spencer Reid. I couldn’t bear the thought of waking up and knowing I’d never see his smile again. I couldn’t dare only love him in memories. 

Spencer Reid was an enigma, to say the least. He was a beautiful soul, and I would tell him that every day I could, no matter his insistence that the soul didn’t exist. I could see it in him; I could see the tenderness of his heart. 

That’s why I fell in love with him. Everything about him was tender, gentle, beautiful. He was like a breeze in the springtime, the scent of daisies flowing through the air. He was impossible not to love. 

But getting close to an FBI agent is always a difficult task. It comes with long days and even longer nights, phone calls in passing with hours and miles between one another, fitful nights of trying to sleep without the one you love next to you. It’s a sacrifice not many are willing or able to make. 

It’s a sacrifice that I would make every single day for the rest of my life as long as I got to kiss Spencer the nights that he was home. That’s what made it all worth it, finally being in his arms. 

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. I learned very quickly how truthful that statement was. Even after only two days away from one another, I could feel the physical pull bringing Spencer and I back together. 

If soulmates existed, I knew that Spencer was mine. I had never been more certain about anything in my life. 

And although I was willing to wait, it didn’t make it any less stressful. It didn’t take away the lingering paranoia that he wouldn’t come home. 

After a particularly grueling case, in which Spencer had been gone for nearly two weeks, that paranoia grew increasingly stronger. No amount of reassuring phone calls from him could take away the fear. 

Then came that beautiful message, wrapped in a perfect little bow like always. 

_I’m coming home tonight. It’ll be late. Get some sleep, angel._

Spencer, for the boy genius that he was, was absolutely idiotic if he thought I wasn’t going to stay up for him. I could never sleep knowing he would be in my arms so soon. 

Besides, the apartment we shared, although not very spacious, certainly felt far emptier without both of us there to occupy it. Our bed seemed like a mansion in its own right when I was alone. 

With Spencer, ‘late’ ranged from anywhere between 1:00 A.M to 5:00 A.M., but I was going to take my chances regardless. I brought out an energy drink I had in the fridge for this very situation and downed it far too quickly, wincing at the sour taste. 

I could keep myself busy with thoughts of what I wanted to do with Spencer when he got home, but decided not to bother with the wishful thinking. He was going to be tired, and probably upset, and I needed to be there to comfort him. 

So I plopped on the couch, turning on some foreign film in a language I didn’t know that Spencer already had in the DVD player, and began the longest wait of my life. Time moved so slowly when I was waiting. 

Despite the excitement flowing through me, I found that I had drifted off halfway through the film. I was awoken by the sound of a door unlocking, and shot up quicker than a firecracker, practically racing to the front door. 

I got there just as Spencer walked in, noting the tension in his shoulders and the grimace etched on his lips. The case must have taken a decent toll on him, based on the puffy bags under his eyes. I wanted to cry at the sight of him so beaten down. 

“Hi, love,” I whispered, reaching forward to engulf him in a hug. I wrapped my arms around him tightly to ensure he couldn’t disappear and squeezed with all my might, stepping back once I was satisfied he had felt my love. 

The forlorn expression on his face was wiped off, and he looked at me with a mixture of surprise and adoration. The glimmer in his eyes made me fall in love all over again. 

He took a step forward, reaching out with his free hand and gently brushing my hair out of my face. He leaned down then, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of my head. After a tough case, he was always gentle like this, as if the smallest movement would break me. 

“Why aren’t you asleep?” He asked, setting down his messenger back and tossing his keys on the stand by the door. With his newly freed hand, he lovingly caressed my cheek. I leaned into it, a wide smile on my face. 

“I wanted to see you. Duh. It’s been forever,” I mumbled, my eyelids fluttering closed as I basked in his soft touches. 

He made a noise of chastising disagreement, but didn’t comment. I heard the front door lock and then he intertwined our fingers together, giving my hand a squeeze. 

“C’mon, angel. Let’s get you to bed, huh?” He whispered, his voice soft as he led the way to the bedroom. He didn’t even bother turning off the lights on the way there. 

Once we reached the bedroom, he instructed me to lay down while he got ready for bed. Instead, I sat eagerly at the edge of the bed and watched him change. 

It was something so small, really, watching him go from his button-up and sweater vest to his bleached sweatpants that made my heart stop. The small movement reminded me how lucky I was to get these peaks into his life. 

I watched him as he brushed his teeth, not missing the way he avoided looking in the mirror, and spit without even looking up. I watched as he took his contacts out, not bothering to put his glasses on as he stumbled back to the bed. 

He all but threw himself onto the mattress, letting out a long sigh as he readjusted himself against the bed frame. Leaning his head back, he motioned me forward with his fingers. 

I crawled forward without question, curling up into his side and leaning my head against his chest. In this position, I could feel his heartbeat, and I focused on the comfort that every soft _thump_ provided. He radiated warmth, instantly calming me down. 

When he opened his mouth to speak, I absentmindedly traced the faint, white scars that were splayed across his chest. He tensed, but didn’t comment. 

“Baby, you can’t sacrifice your health for me,” he whispered, his tone even although I still heard the warning in his voice. 

“I’m not sacrificing my health,” I argued, looking up at him with a pout on my lips. He was not impressed. 

“Young adult humans need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. Not having a healthy sleep schedule increases the chances of disease and the likelihood of depression.” 

“I love when you talk dirty to me, Doctor,” I joked, lightly hitting his chest with a quiet laugh. 

He grabbed my wrist with his hand, wrapping his fingers around it completely, and brought my hand up to place a kiss against my palm. I met his eyes, and the smile was wiped off my face when I saw his serious expression. 

Although Spencer didn’t keep secrets from me, we both knew he wasn’t completely open about his emotions. I couldn’t fault him for that, and I didn’t, I just wanted him to know that I’d always be there for him when he was ready to share. 

It meant everything to me that Spencer trusted me enough to show him a vulnerable side of himself, because I knew how hard it was for him. Every time he opened up, a little part of me became more enamored with him. 

“I’m being serious. I don’t want you to risk your own comfort or health to make me happy.”

“Spence, you know I’d do anything to make you happy. It’s not even a question. You’re my whole world,” I whispered, hoping he could hear the sincerity in my words. 

With the hand he was holding, I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. He leaned forward, pressing another soft kiss to my wrist. 

I could see the gears turning behind his eyes, his vision flickering from my lips to my eyes as he furrowed his brows in thought. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, he let out a quiet sigh. 

“I don’t deserve you,” he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper as it cracked on the last words. I could tell from his expression that he truly meant the words he was saying. It broke my heart. 

“You deserve the world, Spence, and I’m going to do everything I can to give it to you. All I want is for you to be happy. Above all, you deserve to be happy.” 

I could see the tears brimming his eyes, but he blinked them away, and a small smile fell on his lips. Although I could tell he didn’t believe me, I wasn’t going to press and make him uncomfortable. He would believe me in his own time. 

“Will you marry me?” 

His words were so quiet and so rushed that I could barely understand him. His eyes widened, as if he didn’t mean to say the words out loud. 

I felt like I couldn’t breathe, staring up at him like a fish out of water. My heart was beating out of my chest, and there were butterflies flying wildly in my stomach. Had he really asked that? 

“Do you mean it?” I asked, scared of what his answer would be. 

He nodded, never taking his eyes off me. “I don’t often say things I don’t mean. You know that.” 

In lieu of a proper response, I leaned forward and kissed him with as much passion as I could muster. I knew for sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Spencer Reid, and I was the luckiest person alive that he felt the same way.


End file.
